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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

FRESH the movie

As part of our one year anniversary celebration (in addition to free classes Mon Nov 2 - Sun Nov 8), we'll be screening Fresh, a documentary about the industrial food industry and efforts to find alternatives, on Saturday November 7th at the shala. Not sure on the time yet - probably six or so. We'll also have a potluck, so we can eat food while we watch food. Fresh draws heavily from Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma (which you should read if you haven't).

The distribution of Fresh echoes it's subject matter in that it will NOT be nationally distributed in theaters. Instead, the movie is going for a word-of-mouth, grassroots popularity, and is available for small screenings, through purchase of a license, promotional materials, etc. We heard about the movie because it was shown at a church in the QC.

Initially, this movie seems not exactly yoga-related (or maybe more accurately it's not asana related). But as closely as dietary choices are tied to yoga practice, we think this movie is a good fit with how we roll. The dietary practices traditionally associated with yoga practice, from vegetarianism to fasting do not all stem entirely from the same intent (fasting is a body purification ritual; vegetarianism is both body purification and an extension of ethical observances). And, unfortunately, any practice can be "good" or "bad," ample proof of which is found in many things, including these two:

1) the recent formulation of the diagnosis of "orthorexia," an unhealthy and possibly fatal eating disorder centered around an obsession with healthy food